MANILA - CASH transfers to the Philippines by citizens working abroad hit US$15 billion (S$22.45 billion) in the 11 months to November 2008, topping the 2007 full-year figure despite a global economic slowdown, the central bank said on Thursday.

November remittances rose 10.5 per cent from a year earlier to US$1.3 billion, a central bank statement said.

This raised the cumulative total for the first 11 months of the year to US$15 billion, 15.1 per cent higher than the year-earlier level, it added.

The full-year remittance level reached a record US$14.4 billion in 2007.

'The steady stream of remittances from overseas Filipinos continues to provide the economy with much needed foreign exchange liquidity in the midst of a challenging external environment,' central bank governor Amando Tetangco said in the statement.

If the workers remitted at least US$1.3 billion in the last month of 2008 the central bank projection of US$16.3 billion in for the entire year would have been achieved, he added.

Even though several hundred Filipinos have been laid off and sent home late last year by semiconductor factories in Taiwan, Mr Tetangco said there was continued demand for Filipino workers abroad, specifically professional and skilled workers.

Some 1.22 million Filipinos went to work abroad in the 11 months to November 2008, up 24.4 per cent from the same period in 2007, the central bank said, citing labour department data.

'While there are concerns that deployment could decelerate in the coming months due to the continuing global economic slowdown, the (labour department) indicated that the decline could be mitigated by strong labour demand in Canada, Bulgaria, Australia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar,' it added. -- AFP